In the case where 7 defendants, 4 of whom are in custody and 3 are on the run, are standing trial for the Galeria site, where 89 people lost their lives due to the collapse of a building in Diyarbakır during the first earthquake in February, a civil engineer was one of the witnesses. Mehmet Fuat Ezber spoke. Ezber stated that they had conducted a groundwater investigation and said, „Before laying the foundations of all buildings, a soil investigation must be carried out. Otherwise, the buildings erected would be risky. We stated in the report that the foundations were risky.“ The report was supposed to be added to the project, but we later found out that the report was not added to the project.
The trial against 7 defendants, 4 of whom were arrested, including the three contractors sought for the Galeria site that collapsed in Diyarbakır during the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023, killing 89 people, continued.
Arrested contractors participated in the hearing before the 11th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır. Sedat Eser, Mehmet Tatlı Yiğit, Şeyhmus Yiğit, civil engineer, technical supervisor Tevfik Demir participated in the hearing via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS) from the prison where they were detained, while their lawyers were present in the courtroom.
Sedat Eser, defending himself in the oral hearing, claimed that there was no trace left of the previous state of the Galeria site, that the walls in the workplaces had been removed, and that there were arguments for cutting columns, and that he did not accept the accusations made against him.
Defendant Mehmet Sevecen Yiğit said, „I did not contribute to the construction process. I did not sign in any process. The witnesses‘ statements accuse me of cutting columns. The reports show that the ground is hard. There are contradictions in the expert reports. I demand my release and acquittal.“
Defendant Tevfik Demir also denied the accusations and claimed that he had no involvement in the construction of the Galeria site.
Defendant Şeyhmus Yiğit did not accept the accusations against him and requested his release.
Testifying as a witness, Feride Lacin stated that he had bought apartments and offices from the Galeria site during the construction phase. „In the market and gym, there was a problem with the colon, anyone who commits a fault should be prosecuted,“ he said. Laçin also mentioned that his neighbors had also lost their lives in the earthquake.
„We said in the report that the foundation was risky,“ Ezber claimed, stating that they had found groundwater in the soil at that time and said, „We created a report that matched these findings. The ground had to be excavated and prepared for another 6 meters. Of course, it would be even more costly. Before laying the foundation of all buildings, a soil investigation must be conducted. Otherwise, the buildings erected would be risky. We said in the report that the foundation was risky. The report was supposed to be attached to the project, but we later found out that the report was not added to the project,“ he said.
Geological engineer witness Halis Dabaz claimed that in the soil report they prepared before the building’s construction, they found that the foundation was weak and had low bearing capacity due to the clay.
Dabaz explained that according to the report, the foundation should be excavated deeply and stated that they had submitted the said report to the Chamber of Civil Engineers.
„In the Galeria Business Center, there was no craftsman who had not demolished the walls,“ witness Aziz Sabri Özdemir stated, claiming to be the owner of the market located under the site. Özdemir also mentioned that there were job sites on the Galeria site and that he had kept a record showing that it was earthquake-proof because he had rented it to official institutions. He stated that he had not witnessed the cutting of columns and beams.
Witness Şükrü Özkılıç also claimed that there were job sites on the Galeria site and that he had kept a record showing that it was earthquake-proof because he had rented it to official institutions. He stated that he had not witnessed the cutting of columns and beams.
Witness Sabri Yilmaz claimed that he had only observed water accumulating in the building’s basement during rainy weather in the first two years after the building was completed.
The two complainants, who lost their relatives in the earthquake, stated that they had filed a complaint against the defendants and demanded their punishment.
It was decided to continue the detention of four defendants.
The prosecutor expressed in his justification for the punishment of the arrested defendants for the alleged offense, the continuation of their pre-trial detention, and the separation of the documents